There are problems in the NHL and everyone - even the players - acknowledge that. The players have put offers on the table that address the problems. There's no doubt that a combination of revenue sharing and a luxury tax would solve the leagues problems, but the owners aren't even willing to negociate. I'm not sure how so much misinformation has been passed around (and seemingly accepted) concerning the player's position. They are not looking for more, they're not even looking for the status quo. They're offering to roll back their own salaries, lower signing bonuses, lower the cap on rookies, accept a luxury tax (which despite what has been said here, will lower team pay rolls) etc. but the league isn't even willing to talk unless a cap is on the table.
The league's position is tyranical, undemocratic, anti-capitalist and is a rejection of all the things we claim to value of as society. It's amazing how corporations love free markets when the pressure is used to oppress workers but when one of the few examples of their system benefitting the workers emerges suddenly they want to abandon their own system.
If less money is spent on player salaries the money is going straight into the owners pocket. The fans won't benefit in any way. They've already told us that ticket prices won't drop if there's a salary cap. They've said that the market dedictates ticket prices. Essentially what the owners are saying "A free market system to determine player salaries isn't fair to us, we need protection from the market. But sorry fans there's not savings in any of this for you, we have to sell our tickets according to what the market can bare." Ownership greed and hypocracy is astounding, yet fans are lining up to support them because we can't afford tickets and we're angry (jealous?) that NHLers earn as much as they do. Where's the genuine discussion of how much the owners are making?
Owners have every right to make money, I'm not against that AT ALL! They take the risk, they put up the cash etc. and they should be rewarded for that. But they need to realize that their product is their players, and without their players they have absolutely no revenue streams. No TV deals, no merchandise, no consession stands, no parking lots, nothing at all without the players.
The players have shown good faith in wanting to negociate. They've made six offers that have all been rejected and the league hasn't offered a single counter offer. They're not negociating.
The league has problems, but the league can be fixed. Revenue sharing, luxury taxes, greater restrictions on free agency, lower bonuses, give management arbitration rights (take a player to 'court' if he doesn't produce at the level expected of his salary), etc. there are LOTS of possible fixes, but the league is focused on one. It's obvious who's being reasonable here...